NonFiction
by Generation Nothing
Summary: Never in a thousand years would I have ever wanted to admit that I needed Vega. I wouldn't admit that I'd landed in a suspicious substance that made me have superpowers after vandalizing a house either. But hey, that's between me and the police. Jori. Rating will change with future content.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Never in a thousand years would I have ever wanted to admit that I needed Vega. I wouldn't admit that I'd landed in a suspicious substance that made me do things normal people can't after vandalizing a house either. But hey, that's between me and the police.**

**This is a Jori romance.**

* * *

Everyone has a story.

But in a broken city is there anyone left to listen? All they pay attention to are the police sirens and the latest murder investigation that has gone nowhere. In all my years leading up to this day, I never would have thought I'd try and stop that. But anyway, someone convinced me to write my own story. And I—no, we—hope that in a few years somebody will pick it up and learn what it's like to feel something; what it's like to go on an adventure again. But I doubt it. Because the world is slowly dwindling to crap.

As you can obviously see, I try to stay optimistic about it.

I guess this all started a few months ago.

* * *

"You realise this was completely irresponsible for both of you. You're both seventeen and still pulling dangerous shenanigans like this one." I couldn't remember exactly what I did to get him this angry at Tori and I, but it was hilarious to see him blow up and get this angry with us. Seriously, his face was so red.

"You two may be great singers, but there is honestly no reason for you to spray paint a picture of the librarian's decapitated cat—" Ah, right. That's what I did. "—in the Black Box Theater. I'm going to have to s—"

"Mr. Evlin, you know I wouldn't do that," Tori argues and her eyebrows furrow, "I love the Black Box Theater and Elrine. Why would I vandalize school property and draw gruesome images?" She pouts, her hands flying in all directions as she tries to prove her innocence.

I scoff. Vega _would_ be on a first name basis with the librarian, who is a complete bitch to me anyway. Every time I try and check out a book the woman glares at me with her beady eyes behind her glasses and purses her lips, as if she's trying to hide back a sassy comment. Oh, but she's just plain skipper around everyone else.

"Tori," Mr. Evlin says, "You were there when we found it and I have people who confirmed that it was, in fact, your spray paints that were used."

He turned to me, "And Jade, don't get me started on you because everyone knows you have something going on against Ms. E. Though I don't know why, I mean, have you seen that woman? I wouldn't mind just walking up to her and untying that pretty little bun of hers, sitting her up on that desk and—" He shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat awkwardly. "ANYWAY. You're suspended for one week, Tori."

"What?" Tori exclaimed, shaking her head. "No, no no. I've never missed a day of school this year and the makeup work is going to be horrendous. Aw." By the end of her sentence Tori was whining and squirming in her chair immaturely. I couldn't help but smirk at the way she was acting, the misery this was causing her.

I don't know why, but I get happiness out of seeing Vega unhappy and bitter. She's like the human form of coffee I drink, really. She has light brown skin and dark hair that I would probably kill her for if I was allowed to. And her smile makes me feel warm like my coffee does sometimes. And today she was wearing a white, off-the- shoulder top that emphasizes her great chest. I mean, her boobs aren't better than mine but they are something. I wonder what kind of bras she wears. I wonder if she'd let me touch hers.

"And Jade gets two weeks," Mr. Evlin says, bringing me out of my slightly less…hetero thoughts. I realise I was starting to stare at Vega's chest and I quickly look at our principal who seemed to notice what I was doing too. Oh my god I can see something poking against his dress pants. Gross gross gross make it go away.

"Fine," I say calmly, even though I'm freaking out about how much of a pervert our principal is. I collect my stuff in slow and bored manner. Vega huffs and throws an angrily glance over her shoulder at Evlin as we leave to get our stuff from our lockers.

"I hate you," Vega still has an angry tone in her voice. Her actions are angry and she's stuffing books in her shoulder bag carelessly. We both know she doesn't actually mean it and they're just words coming out of her mad stupor. When I'm done, she's still putting things in her bag. I lean against the wall next to her. Her face is slightly red and there's a massive pout, none like the one she wore in Evlin's office, so I know this one is just for show. I roll my eyes. I stand there watching her for at least thirty more seconds before I get overwhelmingly bored. I don't know what's making me wait for her. I could have gotten the heck out of this place the second I was done.

"Geez, Vega. You're suspended for a week. Not going on vacation." I say smirking.

She glares at me half-heartedly and closes her locker shut. Vega stops trying to look angry and for the first time I see her look…genuinely sad? All the other times it was obvious she didn't give a crap about whatever was going on but right now I…frick froggers…

I frown. "Stop looking at me like that. And only take what you need."

Vega empties a few items back into her locker, but not a lot. She shuts it and finally turns off the lights that illuminate the reason she's at this school in the first place.

"So what now?" The Latina asks like I hold the answers to everything. I shrug. The bell rings for people to switch to fourth period and I text my boyfriend, Beck, that I was suspended and not to look for me during school. He texted back a frown. I realise that Tori is still looking at me expectantly as the hallways began to clear out again. I put my phone away.

"Well, it is almost noon." My stomach growls. My mind instantly thinks of this one burger place a few blocks over and I think my mouth starts to water. They hate me there though. Maybe if I brought Vega they'd instantly love her and give me free burgers and forgive all of the mean comments I've given them…hm.

"How does an early lunch sound? My treat for getting us suspended, I guess. You have to pay though." Her jaw clenches at the word 'suspended'. It looks kind of weird but I refrain from asking her to do it again. Aw, look at me being polite.

"How is it your treat if I'm paying?" Vega asks but she's walking towards the front of the school so I know she's on board with it. I smile at her question and shake my head. When I don't answer, she looks back at me and I instantly drop my smile. I can't let her see that. She'll think that we're friends and I don't want to be her friend. I just want free burgers.

I don't talk to her on the drive there.

And just like I thought, the owners love her and I think their son has a crush on her. Well done Vega, well done. If you're wondering, the burgers weren't free but they ended up being half off which was close enough. Vega ordered two for herself along with fries and a milkshake, which I thought was disgusting. Who the heck eats fries and milkshakes together?

When I told her this she laughed at me asked me if I ever tried it. With a mouth full of burger I said no.

"Do you want to tr—?"

"No."

"It's _reeeaaally_ good."

"No."

"Okay."

Though as we continue eating I can't help but wonder what I am missing out on. I mean, it looks grosser than Two Girls One Cup but what if it tastes good? I finish my food first and she's almost finished with her fries. Vega is down to the final two before I finally decide to take her up on her offer of eating the disgusting substances together. I reach across the table to grab one only to have my hand smacked away.

"Uh, what do you think you're doing?" Vega asks raising a sculpted eyebrow.

"Attempting to dip a fry in a milkshake and eat it. However, _something_ is stopping me."

"Well maybe I don't want you to try my fries anymore. I only have two more anyway. And one is small and morphed looking, no offense to the delicious little guy." As she says this, she takes the good-looking fry and dips it in the milkshake. I wince as she licks all of the milkshake off the fry while making noises that I'm sure she's using to embarrass me. When she's done she smirks at me.

"Still want it?"

Rolling my eyes, I snatch the fry out of her tan hands and dip it in my milkshake. I don't feel attention to how gross it feels from Vega's spit as I pop it into my mouth. Hm, it tastes pretty good. Though I wish Vega ordered these without salt, it sort of ruins everything.

Vega stares at me as if I grew four other heads.

(That would be cool. I'll have to put that on my agenda when I get home—'Grow more heads to freak out Tori'.)

"Not so bad," I say after I swallow. "I may eat this the next time I come here."

Vega just shakes her head at this but she's smiling. "You're gross sometimes, Jade." She tells me.

* * *

Vega and I departed about three hours ago and I'm already bored. I don't want to go home yet and I don't want to call Vega so shortly after I'd left her. I don't want to look that desperate for entertainment. And besides, she makes me feel uncomfortable. She makes me feel nice on the inside. And it's not the nice meaning happy nice, but the nice meaning I want to pet the stray kitten across the street and give the (probably homeless) man walking by me checking out my rack forty bucks.

God, I need to do something bad and quick. Before I start donating to charity or something.

I ring up Chunk. You may be wondering what kind of name Chunk is and I'm here to tell you the answer. It's not his real one and he won't tell me his real one because 'it's embarrassing and brings too many flashbacks'. But anyway, on his first day in prison a few years ago he barfed some bad meatloaf on the head dude of a prison gang. The guy called him Chunk and the name grew on him I guess. That's what he tells me, anyway. He picks up on the second to last ring.

"Whoever the heck this is, listen, I don't have the money or drugs you're looking for alright? Chunk hisses through the phone.

"It's Jade," I say coolly. I lean against the seat of my car and run my fingers through my hair.

"Ah, Jade baby." Chunk exclaims happily before pausing, "What do you need and why am I the guy to do it?" I roll my eyes.

"I need a crew and a good house to wreck. A certain someone's sunshine has been rubbing off on me. So I need a fix and fast."

Chunk is silent for a moment and all I hear on his end is the clicks of his keyboard.

"Uh, there's an abandoned house on Westrose and Thomas. It looks horrendous and—ooh, is that an empty swimming pool? Jade, we _have to_ go, the bowl is _huge_." Chunk says breathlessly into the phone. "I'll bring the usual kids."

It takes only twenty minutes for me to get there. I park a few streets away from my destination and walk the rest of the way. As always, Chunk manages to get there before me. A group of scraggly teen misfits stand around him holding bats and lighters and other tools of demolition. As I approach, Chunk hands me my own bat. Taking it, I grin. This is going to be perfect.

There's some weird fix I get out of being the one to break something. Seeing something shatter to pieces pulls a chord in me and I don't know why. Maybe I like seeing it vulnerable and whispering for me to fix it, only for me to bring my fist down on it again. Or maybe it's the guilt, pain, and fear I feel after I do it. And the adrenaline rush. Feeling those emotions reminds me I'm human and they're the hugest wake up calls I've ever gotten in my entire life. So I'm really hoping that answers your question as to why I'm in an old home smashing glass and tearing down pictures from a wall.

"Best house ever," Chunk yells, repeatedly scarring a table with the marks of a golf club. He shakes his head and it's like in that moment something possesses him because he starts jerking his body as he hits things and he yells louder. I should tell him to be quiet because someone could hear him. But I don't because I think right now at his craziest he has become something frightingly beautiful.

"Check out this awesome bowl!" One misfit yells. He has long hair and I can't see his actual face because of the amount of pimples he has. I decide to name him Phil. Something is thrown near Phil's head by someone else and falls apart as it collides with the wall behind him. Phil pauses for a moment and doesn't seem to notice a shard of glass stuck in his arm. He shrugs and heads outside with, what I just now notice to be, a skateboard in his hand.

Our group follows behind him excitedly. Three of us sit along the edge of the empty pool as the others skate in it. We're not bad sports about it, we just watch and cheer the others on as they do back flips and twists that I'm sure could kill them if they messed up.

It's not long before fire gets involved in the mix. Someone found a hoola hoop in a closet so they decided to set it on fire. Chunk and Phil skate through the burning thing and I'm not sure how no one gets hurt but they're that lucky, I guess.

Alcohol joins after someone Chunk texted shows up too. I've seen him around town but have never learned his name and I still don't mean to now. He drinks a few beers before making his own try on Chunk's skateboard, which he swiftly breaks one hour later. One hour after that everyone is astoundingly drunk. We smash our beer cans by dropping them into the pool and laugh at the sound they make.

Chunk drunkenly raises his fist in the air and yells something that sounds like a faint ring to me, but the others mimic his actions and repeat whatever he yells like he's their pack leader. Like everything he does makes sense. I yell with them because at the moment I feel like I belong someplace with these people, even though we're all messed up and breaking slowly.

By eight o'clock I feel smashed and I want to go to bed. Unfortunately, the cops don't like that because I hear their sirens close to us.

"Everybody bolt," Another misfit who's not Phil squeals. A few climb a nearby fence and take off. The rest of us run out the front door and in separate directions. Chunk and I run away together, but I'm only with him for about a minute before I lose him to a bush he decides to throw up in.

I try to get as far away from the sirens as I can but they seem to be stuck with me, echoing in the back of my mind. I hit the back of my head with my hand and they still won't leave. I do it again.

As my breathing slows from running I take in my surroundings. I'm in some sort of grassy area. The full moon is my only light as I try and work my way out of the place. I pull out my phone and I have no reception. It's strangely silent here. I feel like I'm walking in circles. This is useless. I'm going to die here, probably. Tell Beck I used his sacred hairbrush on my dog once and that I'm sorry.

I feel like I've been there for over an hour. God that beer made me so thirsty. My heart is pounding. I feel light headed. Are my eyes tricking me or is that Slender-man walking towards me?

My eyes grow wide when I realise that something is coming towards me at a fairly slow pace. I run as fast as I can away from whatever's approaching me before tripping over my own feet and landing face first into something water-y. And I know this sounds weird but I feel it absorbing me.

And I let it.


	2. Chapter 2

I wake to something licking my face and the smell of something foul. When I open my eyes, a dog looks back at me with big eyes. And it's no small dog either. If I was standing it would at least come up to my waist. The thing's tongue is hanging out and it waits patiently for me to get out of the water. Er, I think that's what it's doing anyway. My head starts pounding and memories from last night flood towards me and I can't stop them. I rub my temples.

I vandalized a house, got drunk, and I think I made out with someone at some point. Then the cops showed up and everyone ran. I ended up here in a…pond? That's really weird. Half of my body is still submerged in the water while the other half rests uncomfortably on land. My phone is probably done for. I sigh as I drag the rest of me out of the water.

The dog immediately goes to my side and starts nuzzling me as I gather my thoughts. I am completely lost, without a working phone, and my clothes are soaking wet. And…and this dog…I don't even know where it came from. AND GOD DANG IT, IT NEEDS TO STOP TRYING TO PUT ITS FACE UP MY SHIRT.

In complete anger I shove the dog away. "No!" I yell at it. The dog whimpers and squeals as it gets down low. It puts its paws over its ears and I instantly feel bad.

"Hey," I say as soft as my voice allows, "I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry," I apologize and the words feel foreign on my tongue, "Listen, I'm scared. You trying to sneak a peak isn't helping."

I'd never admit that I was scared out of my wits to anyone. But this furry animal brought me some sense of security, I don't know how to describe it. And the fact that it couldn't really respond was a bonus. So for a few minutes I just sit there talking to it. It calms me down and eventually I coax it out of its defensive stance and I notice something on its side. Some fur seems to have been…burned off almost. It created a shape that looked almost like a handprint. _My hand_. In curiosity, I reach out to touch the dog but it snarls at me. That snarl quickly turns into a squeal and then a whimper as it runs away from me, not listening to me telling it to come back.

I push myself off the ground and stumble. My legs feel incredibly sore and my tongue feels dry in my mouth. I walk towards where the dog ran. I continue to walk for what seems like hours. All I see is green and I can't find that stupid dog and I want to know why there was a handprint and where I am and why I feel so tired. What is _happening_ right now? Am I going crazy? I think I'm going crazy. So crazy that I see a familiar green woman with a crown on her head waving at me.

I don't know who she is but I smile and wave back, which is unlike me. I ask her where I am but it sounds more of a whisper so I yell the question. She doesn't answer, which I find incredibly rude. I huff and storm towards her. Who does she think she is being all smiles and waves and then ignoring me the second I speak to her? Screw her for being extremely tall, too!

I'm about to give her a huge piece of my mind when my face meets something hard. I fall flat on my butt. I curse very loudly to let the green lady know that I'm unhappy. I'm about to look up at her again when something catches my eye—a hot guy standing next to his car is staring at me with his mouth open and a coffee cup with the green lady on it rests in his hands. I look from the coffee cup to the woman on the roof and back to the coffee cup before I realise I just ran into the wall of a coffee shop. All with a hot guy watching. This is sure to add to my list of 'Times Jade Was Being A Freak To The Public'.

I stand up and try to brush everything off coolly.

"And scene." I say awkwardly. Hot guy cocks an eyebrow and shakes his head, sends me a smile, and hops in his sports car. I rush into the coffee shop because I really need a drink now.

Everyone in the shop looks at me curiously because I'm still soaking wet, but after I glare at half of them and give the cashier a half-dry twenty-dollar bill everyone goes back to their business. I notice that my hands are redder than usual when doing so. This makes my eyebrows furrow because my skin has never been this shade—I can't even tan.

It's a long walk back to my car and my shoes squish uncomfortably with every step I take but I make it back home without breaking down completely. I'm exhausted.

I don't even bother to change clothes before I go to sleep.

* * *

I wake up at an odd hour for someone who could be sleeping in due to their suspension (which is ten o'clock if any of you want to know). Groaning, I roll over onto my back and try to rid the sleep from my eyes. A burning feeling snakes its way into my brain and I hiss ripping my own hands away from me. They're a bright red like they were yesterday, but this time they seem to be glowing. My eyes grow wide. I'm fully awake now, all of my attention devoted to my hands. I rush to the restroom and cold water from the sink does nothing but make it worse. My hands start steaming.

I say every curse in the book within a stream of jumbled words and wave my hands frantically—anything to get the red and steam to go away.

_But first you need to calm down_, a voice in the back of my head whispers to me, _remember that video you saw a few years ago? They said that people in critical situations always make terribly decisions because they're too busy worrying and freaking themselves out. Think calm thoughts._

I take a few deep breaths and nothing works. A rush of panic runs through me and my hands seem to glow brighter. I have to squint. I'm pretty sure I look how Beck looks when he gets a bad grade on something he thought he did great on. Oh, Beck! Beck calms me down when I'm mad or something bad has happened.

I close my eyes, take deep breathes and try again.

I think of Beck and his perfect hair and smile. I think of how strong his arms are and his little baby abs. I imagine him holding me and telling me he loves me. I imagine him laughing at something stupid Robbie says and him being there for me when my parents split. I imagine Beck being Beck.

And when I open my eyes, I find that it worked. My hands are a light pink now. I smile faintly. Thanks, Beck.

I don't want to worry myself any more about the hand situation and I figure that since I'm already up I may clean myself. I probably just got an insanely bad sunburn (that _glows_, really Jade?) yesterday anyway. It's nothing to worry about, I convince myself. I pull out my toothbrush and toothpaste. However, when I go to only squeeze a little of the blue substance onto my toothbrush, about half of it flies out of the tube and onto my mirror. I gape at it. My mouth flies open. I'm stuck between screaming in frustration and crying.

I wet a towel and scrub my mirror down. Even when all of it's gone I continue to do it because if I don't I know I'll start freaking out about my hands again and I don't know if thinking about Beck will calm me down this time. I don't know what's going on with my body. I don't know _anything_.

Something in me snaps. I throw the towel down on the floor and in a moment of anger I kick the wall. I can't take this! I can't take not understanding what's happening with me and why it's happening. My back reaches the pale blue walls of my bathroom and I slowly slide down.

It starts when I slowly start to shake. Then, my eyes water and I try to fight back as many tears as I can. I bite my lip until a metallic taste fills my mouth. I let out a shaky breath. That's all it takes for me to start crying. A low wailing sound was all that came with it at first but soon I was flat out bawling and screaming into my own arms. I don't know how long I stayed like that, just crying there with my dad a few rooms over. I'm sure he could hear me but he didn't come in to ask what was wrong. He didn't even wake me up last night to ask me where I had been. He doesn't care. He never has.

A jerk runs through my body as I let loose a wail of agony but there are no more tears left. I've run myself clean. I wipe at my eyes to rid them of residue until I see stars. I get up and turn the sink back on and luckily my hands don't start steaming again when I use them to splash water on my face. Slowly but surely my breath becomes normal.

When I walk back into my room my phone buzzes. Well, my other phone—emergency use. And since my phone did get wet and I had no other way of communication I had no choice but to use this one.

I pick it up and see I have two text messages. One from Beck and one from Tori. My heart starts beating rapidly in my chest when I see her name at the end of the text. Though maybe it's because I distinctly remember not ever giving her this phone number. I didn't even give her my last one! She tied Cat to the stairs and forced it out of her. I don't want to know what she did to anyone to achieve this number.

_Are you busy today?_—Tori.

I skipped from hers to Beck's.

_hey babe missed u at school. i can't believe it's only wednesday things have been slow and boring without you haha. can't wait for u to come back so i can hug and kiss u again. _

_p.s when u come back can u wear that one band t-shirt? the one with the guys in the suits it looks hot on u. love ya babe! text me soon :) _–Beck

I really had nothing to do today but I wouldn't let Vega of all people be the source of my entertainment. So I typed in a 'yes' and was right about to hit send when my stomach grumbled. I looked down at my stomach and it grumbled again.

I shrugged and tossed my phone on the bed. Vega could wait.

Of course I have terrible timing, however, and bump into my dad in the hallway. He wears a crisp suit with gel in his neatly parted hair and a frown seems to be forever placed on his face. He straightens any crease I made by knocking into him and acknowledges me with a small nod. When he walks away I'm hoping he has an early appointment and is leaving but he takes a turn into the kitchen.

Silently we both fix separate foods—he sticks with a protein concoction of some sort and I make myself eggs and bacon. I am about to be on my merry way when he stops me.

"You know the rules, Jade, no eating in the bedrooms. Sit." He points to the chair across from him. My jaw clenches but I don't protest. I slowly sit down and pick up my fork. He's never cared where I eat before so I must have done something to make him start enforcing rules around here though I don't know what.

"How have you been?" He asks awkwardly and avoids looking me in the eyes.

"Fine," I shove eggs into my mouth and take a bite of bacon. I've never had elegance at the table. But it's mostly so that I can see my father squirm much like he's doing now.

"Are you still dating," He takes a moment to swallow his drink before almost spitting out the name, "Benson?"

"His name is _Beck_." I hiss. I practically inhale my eggs to stop from saying more and insulting my dad. My father sits up straighter and purses his lips.

"I still don't like the boy. He needs a haircut and a nice suit. I believe he is a bad influence on you Jade, and I think you know that too. He introduced you to hardcore metal for Pete's sake. He convinced you to get those tattoos! You'll never get jobs with those!" He says, eyes cold and emotionless, "And don't even say that you're going to be a singer because you know that I won't allow it. Did you know that they say in five years people in the creative arts will make seventeen thousand or less a year. Do you want that kind of payment, Jade? You'll never make it anyway—"

A ring fills the room and my father taps a button on his Bluetooth answering it. He collects his briefcase and leaves without saying goodbye. I'm left to eat my bacon in peace, thank the gods. It doesn't taste as good as it did five minutes ago though. It leaves a bitter taste on my tongue so I throw it out.

With every step back to my room the angrier and angrier I get and by the time I reach my phone I'm pissed. I feel like ripping things down from my walls and throwing glass out the window. I feel like kicking the elderly and squirting children with ketchup.

On the bed, my phone buzzes again.

_Anyone home?_—Tori, it reads. Before I know it I'm deleting my old and typing a new message.

_I'm coming over to your house in ten minutes. _

I don't wait for her reply as I get ready. I carefully squeeze out the toothpaste this time and go without disaster. I start writing a new song while in the shower which I make note to write down later. It's only when I pick out clothes do I feel something wrong in my gut. I can't find what's causing me to feel bad until I see the material in my hands—a pretty blouse and skinny jeans that aren't the colour black, the clothes I wore on a date with Beck last weekend. He told me I looked nice, kissed my forehead took me to watch a car be smashed by a truck. I shake my head and put the clothes back, picking out things more worn looking.

I don't want to look nice for Vega. I don't need to.

* * *

"Your dad said _what_?" Vega's eyebrows pop up after I rant to her about my father. "Jade that's totally not true! You'd definitely make it in the music industry. You'd get billions of cash."

"I don't understand why he has to be such a rude person all the time. I'm his daughter for crying out loud, you know? I dress fine, my grades are up, and I have one of the nicest boyfriends in the world and he acts like I'm the reincarnated version of Satan." I fold my arms. "And Vega, I know I'll make it big one day. I don't need your confirmation or support."

If I had looked away I would have missed the look of hurt that had drawn itself on her features. Instead I had a first row glimpse at it. I feel a little bad, which is weird because I've never felt bad about saying anything mean to the girl, and try to brush the feeling off. It doesn't work and for awhile we're in an uncomfortable silence. I grab my elbow and swing back and forth on the balls of my feet and I find something on her carpet that looks interesting and keep my eyes there.

"Sorry," I blurt out suddenly, the word still sounds strange, "I didn't mean that. Well, I did when I said it but now I feel bad about it." More words slip. "Th-thank you for saying what you did. It means a lot." I stutter which is unlike me. When she beams at me with those pearly white teeth I'm torn between punching her in the mouth and smiling back at her. Ah, the feelings Vega gives me.

"It's okay." Vega runs a hand through her hair. She looks around the room as if it held the answer to a question she wouldn't let me solve. "What do you wanna do?"

"Who said I ever wanted to do anything with you?" I sneer, the mean words rolling off my tongue automatically without giving me a chance to stop them. "That was rude. Sorry." Tori places a hand on her hip and cocks her eyebrow.

"Two sorry's in one day? Is Jade West feeling okay?" To make her point she rushes towards me and puts her hand on my forehead, feigning worry and growing her brown eyes big like the dog from yesterday. Suddenly, images of me burning her like I did the dog flash through my mind and I wince. I push her hands away from me roughly and send her a warning glare. Vega takes the hint and backs up a few steps.

"So anyway, we can play Wii _or_ we could go to the park. There's this once ice cream place a few streets over—Cat keeps recommending it but I've never gone there with anyone. Oh, oh! We can both play the piano. I've had this idea for a song stuck in my head since Monday but Andre has been busy so maybe you could—"

"Boring!" I exclaim throwing my hands up. "Do you have anything cool around here? Horror films? Silent movies? Dead people?"

She crouches down next to the movie cabinet under the TV and pulls out a drawer. I tap my foot impatiently as Tori searches through the rows of movies.

"Uhh, we have one. We could get through it in about four hours, it's pretty long." Vega says nervously, handing me the case. "But Jade, this is Rated R and it sounds super scary and Mom and Dad wouldn't even let me see it and I'm pretty tolerant with scary movies so maybe we shouldn't—"

"It's perfect!" I exclaim, cutting her rambling short by snatching it out of her hand and popping it in the DVD player. It was about a group of teens who were doing a project on a supposedly haunted mansion but took a detour from the tour guide and went into the forbidden part, where the supposed 'Midnight Cutter' killed everyone he came in contact with.

"But Jade I—"

"Just go get some sodas and popcorn." I interrupt. She whines as she enters the kitchen and I yell at her to grow up. When Tori enters again the movie is about five minutes in and I don't bother explaining a thing to her. The Latina places herself on the opposite end of the red couch as me but as the movie progresses and more people lose limbs and get shot or stabbed she gets closer.

On screen a boy is running away from the killer who is chasing him with a chainsaw. Tori grips my leather jacket sleeve and buries her face in my shoulder. It should annoy me and I should want to get her off of me like I did earlier, but it feels comforting so I stay quiet about it.

They're finally down to the final two and the killer has one trapped and dangling by one foot. The other is hidden behind a box of explosives watching and waiting for a chance to strike the killer and help their friend.

The killer starts up the chainsaw and starts sawing at the person's arm and their screams fill the room while fake blood splatters the screen blocking my view. Tori squeezes me tighter and suddenly her warm breath is on my neck coming out in short pants which don't sound very…innocent. Hearing her breathe like that starts a change in my breathing to and I have to force myself to slow down so she wouldn't notice. My body decides that this is a great time to notice that the hand gripping my sleeve for dear life is insanely close to my boob.

To try and distract the feeling I grab a bunch of popcorn and stuff it in my mouth. Vega takes a moment to look up from her hiding place to see the second person come out to kill the murderer only to be attacked. She hides herself again and this time her lips are dangerously close to my neck. I swallow uncomfortably. I try to keep my breathing under control but find it incredibly hard because the only person who has been this physically close to me _in years_ is Beck.

"Is it over? No more blood?" She asks quietly with a slight whimper. I look up at the screen again only to see that the Midnight Cutter's face is fading into black and the credits have started rolling. Tori made me miss the ending. Damn.

"It's over." I state simply. Vega peels herself away from me and a blush is barely seen on her face but it's still there. She stretches as she stands and her shirt rides up. Not that I was staring or anything.

"I'm gonna go pee. Throw the sodas away, yeah?" Vega says before rushing off. I see her look around the corner hesitantly before she disappears. I chuckle. She's so scared.

I gather the sodas and the empty popcorn bowl. I put the bowl in the sink and attempt to throw the cans in the trash. The keyword in that sentence was attempt because I missed both shots terribly. One rebounded and rolled to the other side of the kitchen which I dreaded getting because let's face it: I'm lazy. Sometimes I wish I could just pick stuff up with my mind like they do in the movies. That would be really cool because then I could pick up the people I don't like and throw them across the country. If my mind was that strong of course. Anyway. Erhm.

I put the one closet to the trash in the can. The one on the other side of the room still looked unappealing but it looked…closer than what it used to be. Did it roll over here?

A naive thought crossed my mind. The…the Midnight Cutter couldn't be in here. They were fictional. Just fictional, I convinced myself.

But man I really wished that soda can was closer and—WHOA. Did it just move? I grab the table behind me for support. Oh my gosh, that soda can just moved when I wished it would. My mind flashes back to this morning and yesterday when my hands were red. I look at them now and they're pale, so nothing's happening there.

I think again about moving the can and keep my eyes on it. Once again, it starts rolling towards the trash can.

"No way," I breathe, finally walking towards it to pick it up. I place it in the trash. My eyebrows furrow.

Holy baby doll parts. I can move things with my head.

My hands twist themselves in my hair and tug, a nervous habit that I picked up from Cat. I start pacing back and forth trying to figure everything out. None of this was happening before I got suspended. Something happened the night I was drunk to make me feel this way. Did I take drugs? Was it something to do with the beer?

I'm still pacing when Tori walks back into the room, her eyes still wide and scared. They calm slightly when they see I'm still here and none of my body parts are gone.

"You okay?" The youngest Vega asks as she walks toward me, "Did the movie scare you?" And I can tell she enjoys the thought of the movie scaring me because her lips are pulled back into a smile that's far too wide and must hurt her cheeks.

"Not as much as it scared you, Vega," I point out with a sickly smile to match her own, "I'm Tori Vega and I'm super tolerant of horror movies. I love them so much." I imitate her, my worries temporarily forgotten in the midst of teasing her.

She glares at me but it quickly turns into a pout.

"I don't talk like that!" Vega exclaims. I keep my smile as I brush past Tori and start making my way up the stairs. I'm almost to the second flight before she finally asks, "Where are you going Jade?"

"Sleeping in your bed. I highly doubt after tonight you'll be able to get sleep without mother figure West watching over you." I respond even though it's obviously me that wouldn't be able to sleep tonight without anyone there for me. I don't want to let her know that I'm as scared as she is, even if it may be for a completely different reason.

I wish I'd stayed to see her reaction though. That's always the best part.

* * *

**I'm not sure if I really want Jade to be dating Beck. Thanks for reading. A review would be lovely, thanks. I love responses.**

**Also, let's pretend that Jade's phone in the water wouldn't electrocute her. This chapter is more like a filler than anything else but everything is still being set up.  
**

**I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter too. That gave me a lot of inspiration. You all rock!**


	3. Chapter 3

I wake to the sounds of birds chirping and an arm wrapped loosely around my waist. A soft light spills through a half open window bathing Tori's purple walls in a glow. My back is turned to the half Latina so I can't tell if she's awake yet but by the sound of her breathing it's a no. Part of me feels extremely uncomfortable sharing a bed with Tori and another part of me doesn't want to leave a bed with her in it. Staying makes me feel safe and warm and Tori's body is surprisingly cozy. It would be impossible to be unhappy everyday if one were to wake up in this room so I think I partially understand why Tori's so giddy all the time.

Never tell her I said any of that.

I sigh deeply and build up the strength to remove her arm from mine but end up taking an extra ten minutes leaning into her. I finally start to squirm and get out of her grasp when Vega's arm tightens protectively around me. She mumbles something against my back and I can't decipher what it is. Something with tacos in it. And then she mumbles something else, something much more clear. Her breath is warm on my neck.

"Stay." Tori nuzzles her face into the base of my neck, sighing.

Something deep inside me hurts and everything that felt right a moment ago feels wrong. Tori's body should _not_ feel warm and cozy. Her hand should _not_ fit perfectly on my hip and I certainly should _not_ enjoy her against me because I'm in a steady relationship.

So I do the only thing I'm familiar with doing around her, and that's push her away. And by that I mean quite literally—she falls on the ground with a thud and I wince. That had to hurt. I ignore her groans and climb out of bed. Tori's head pops up at the side of the bed and a scowl makes itself present on her face. Running a hand through her hair and questioning my harshness she asks sharply, "What the heck is wrong with you?"

Tori's fully awake now and caressing a spot on her side to make the soreness go away.

It's silent between us for a while. I pull awkwardly at my fingers and scuff my bare foot on her carpet looking down since I don't have an answer. I don't want her to see the blush that is most likely evident on my cheeks either.

"Um," Tori says awkwardly, thankfully breaking the silence but not looking me in the eye as she speaks, "I'll go make breakfast while you change."

With that, she's gone—out the door and trampling down the stairs before I could even take a second breath.

I slowly strip out of the pajamas she'd given me: a pair of sweats and an old college t-shirt that's way too big for me. I take as much time as I can using her shower because I don't want to face her yet.

Drying myself off, I get a good look at myself in her mirror. Dark circles have painted themselves underneath my eyes. I frown. I've done nothing but sleep lately so it's absolutely peculiar to have bags there. My eyes narrow when I realise everything about my body screams 'exhausted'. My shoulders are slumped, back arched in, and I'm leaning forward more than I can help. My hair is a mess, too, but it's always like that. I splash some water on my face and run pale, bony fingers through my hair. I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. The more and more I look at myself the more I feel sick.

I slowly walk down the stairs. Something's sizzling on a pan and the delicious smell bacon brings fills my nostrils.

I enter the kitchen. Vega's back is to me. She's humming a catchy tune from a song I've heard on the radio before and shaking her hips, forming a stupid little dance. Vega flips a pancake up in the air and laughs when it hits the pan. Her laugh brings a small smile to my face and my body feels warm like it did when she had held me upstairs earlier, and I hadn't even realised I missed the feeling until now.

I scowl and the smile drops. I can't and won't be thinking about that.

I make my presence known by giving a cough. Tori shrieks and turns around, her hair flying. Her small, tan hands fly directly over her heart and press on it, as if that would help it get back to its normal beat. Her eyebrows are painted upward and she looks around the kitchen until she finds me, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Geez, make a sound, will you, Jade?" Vega squeaks and turns back to her pancakes. I smirk and make my way over to her.

"And what would be the fun in that?" I tease, leaning against the stove. That happened to be a pretty bad idea because a quick, scalding feeling found itself in my hand. I bite my lip to refrain from making any noise but to no avail.

"Shoot," I hiss. I wave my hand around trying to get the burning feeling to go away but it won't.

"What's wrong?" Vega asks. She hurriedly turns off the stove and faces me, looking for any signs of danger.

"I think I burned myself, thanks to your stove from hell." I say through gritted teeth. And don't you dare call me a baby about this—I'd like to see you place your hand on something scalding hot and be okay with it.

Tori rolls her eyes. "Come on, my dad has some stuff that'll help with that."

Wordlessly, and with breakfast sadly forgotten, she leads me to a restroom I didn't even know existed. Jesus, how big is her house?

She makes me sit down on the closed toilet seat as she rummages around a cabinet. When she finds what she's looking for she emits an, "Aha! Gotcha."

"Alright-y. You'll have to put your hand underneath the faucet for about fifteen minutes," She turns the water on, gently grabbing my wrist to put under the cooling liquid. Ah, that feels so nice.

The water, I mean. Not her hand that still happens to be on my wrist.

Definitely not that.

To make the fifteen minutes go by faster we make small talk and discuss stupid things like favourite colour and foods and meaningless crap like that. When the agonizing minutes are finally over, Tori unscrews the cap of whatever she was digging out of the cabinet to reveal a gross looking pasty cream of some sort. She dabs her fingers in it and it makes an audible squishing noise. Ew.

"Give me your hand, Jade." Tori holds out her own expectantly.

"No," I say. Now, we all know I'm a fan of disgusting things but this cream just looks really nasty. Like my cousin's back infection.

"Jade, do you want your hand to feel better or not?" Vega inquires, an eyebrow poking up.

"Yeah, but…" I mumble.

"Then give me your hand so I can make your boo-boo go away." She says teasingly, laughing as she still grabs my hand without my permission. I don't argue any further though, no matter how repulsive the cream looks.

Tori is delicate with the way she applies the substance. She doesn't press hard enough to make me cringe or soft enough as to where she doesn't get the job done. Vega does it just right, surprisingly. It's almost soothing, the way she's touching me.

"Almost done," She tells me softly, almost in a whisper, "Does this feel okay?"

I only nod. I hope my eyes don't give away that she's practically putting me to sleep with her gentleness.

Tori smiles at me. It's not the cruel one she wore last night, either. It's genuine and one she's rarely given me before. It's the kind of smile she gives to Cat or Andre or Robbie. But never _me_, because I'm the only person that manages to make her keep a frown when I'm around. And it kind of scares me that right now her smile makes my stomach feel…I'm not sure how to describe it…light? It's the same way I felt when I woke up and when I was in the kitchen with her and I _do not like it_.

I stand abruptly, knocking over the can of cream, which she'd placed on the sink.

"Jade…?" She questions, and surely she must think I'm crazy now due to the way I've been acting all morning.

"I need to go. Now." I say shortly, making my way out of her restroom and to the living room.

"Jade, Jade, wait! What's wrong? I wasn't done applying the—oh, gee, I _did_ hurt you in there, didn't I?"

"I just need to leave, Vega," I snap, opening up the front door. I don't look back as I beeline the fuck out of there and to my car. Fortunately, the Latina doesn't chase after me.

The trip back to my house is full of heavy rock metal and the smoke of one cigarette.

* * *

There's a hunched figure waiting on the doorstep with frustrating brown hair that I know too well for my own liking. I growl. He should not be here right now. I park my car and climb out, almost tempted to slam the door.

"What are you doing here, Robbie?" I ask, crossing my arms when I get to him. He flinches at the harshness of my tone and stutters out his next sentence.

"I—I, well, uh, Sikowitz asked me to g-give you your schoolwork for the week a-and I leave tomorrow to visit my Aunt Nina, s-so I wanted to give you your stuff today if that's okay with you." Robbie fiddles with the end of his blue button up as he speaks and looks me anywhere but in the eye. The tips of his ears turn pink.

"Robbie, you're supposed to be in fourth period. You could have visited me at the end of the school day but you chose now? You _really_ ditched just so you could deliver some papers?" I question. I tilt my head to the side. I really am curious.

"It's not like anybody would have noticed I'm gone anyway!" He snaps, briefly showing me a more vulnerable side of him. His mouth twitches and just like that Robbie seems like he's about to cry. I'm not good with crying people so I don't know what to do.

"Robbie," I say unsurely. Would it seem rude to just leave him here and enter my house?

"Just forget it. Here, Jade." He hands me a folder, offers me an unconvincing smile, and brushes past me. I watch as he walks down and away from my driveway. I watch as he walks up the street, gripping his hair and pulling roughly at it. Robbie stops at a lamppost and curls at the base of it, wrapping his arms around his legs. A broken sob pierces my quiet neighbourhood. Another one sounds, and after that they don't stop.

I want to do something but my body moves in the opposite direction of him.

I can't comfort him because I don't understand him.

I leave him there to cry alone.

* * *

**This was another filler type chapter but I filled it with Jori. Or, as some of you would call it, Tori being wonderful and Jade being in denial.**

**Also, let's shoot for about 25-30 reviews this chapter (I know it's short, stick with me guys). You all led me on with the amount of reviews you gave me for the first chapter, you teases. **

**I love you all, no matter how many cases of blue balls you give me.**

**Until next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

It's raining.

And danggit, I'm bored.

I finished all of my homework Sunday and today is Wednesday. Vega already went back to school so hanging out with someone isn't exactly an option. Unless I want to wreck something with those merry band of misfits, though I highly doubt I'll be hanging around them any time soon due to the recent…changes…to my body.

"Jade, you need to go to the store. There's a list on the counter." My dad says, staring at me warily for a moment before leaving my room. I hear the faint sound of a door shutting and then a car coming to life.

At least I have something to do.

I grab a hoodie and walk there. It's a short ways a way and I don't mind getting wet. I also like hearing the sound rain makes when it hits the pavement. The sound brings me comfort. I have no deeper meaning to listening to the rain, it's simple.

Surprisingly enough find everything I need quickly and am in the check out line in no time. A girl named Kennedy checks out my bags while I, not so subtly, stare at her chest. I mean, you can't blame me either. Her chest is, I find it very hard to admit this, better than mine and she's trying to draw attention to it. Kennedy's black shirt is low cut and her lace bra peeks through the top of it, and her boobs are pressed so high up I think they're going to fall out. She brings me out of my perving by laughing.

"Having fun there?" I blush having been caught, "Also, that'll be fifteen dollars."

After I hand her a twenty I look away not being able to look her in the face. Geez, she probably thinks I'm creepy. This is _so_ embarrassing.

A five-dollar bill is shoved in my face along with…a phone number? I look up at her, confused, but pocket the money and number. I could rip the number up later. I'm never going to call her because for Pete's sake I'm not gay or into hook-ups. And it's her fault she thinks I'm into her because I was looking at her chest. She had it on display.

"You don't look to bad yourself," She tells me with an award-winning smile. I smile back awkwardly, a little forced. I thank her for ringing me up and leave. The rain is starting to let up and the sky looks brighter, to my dismay. It needs to rain in Cali more. I start my walk home.

"—Help, help me!" A shrill voice shrieks from my left. I turn in that direction and start to walk. I've watched murder stories in which the victim asks for help but bystanders never do and I won't let that be the case this time. "_Please_!" They yell again, louder. I'm close enough to them now whereas I can hear a second voice, one much deeper.

"Shut up or I'll break your arm, woman. Now give me your purse." The second person identifies as male the second I round a corner and find myself in an alleyway with an older woman and a guy in a hoodie. The boy has the woman cornered and shut off from the world, pressed into the cool wet bricks of the alley. The woman whimpers and complies. Taking from the elderly? What a douchebag.

"Hey," I say, my voice coming off strong, "Leave her alone and give her back her purse."

The robber freezes and for a second the only sound accompanying me is the familiar pitter-patter in the background. Then he slowly turns around and sizes me up.

"And if I don't?" He says, trying to sound menacing but in reality he sounded stupid. He stands about a foot away from me. "What are ya gonna do?"

"This." I say, not really sure of what this really was. I take a stance I learned from karate when I was ten that I hope will make him nervous. It doesn't. He bursts out laughing at my ridiculous pose. I don't remember the rest of the move that actually hurts the person, so I'm hopeless from here. His laughter is obnoxious and loud and he keeps snorting.

"Is that...is that what you've got? Gosh, that is ridiculous. Geez, women like you are so annoying. Always butting into things and not being able to do jack. You can't defend this old hag back here any better than you can protect yourself. Say, I could even tear your little shirt off, stick my hand down your pants and—"

Smack!

The boy grips the side of his face where my hand had struck him, dropping the purse. I'm pissed. How dare he say all that utter bull to my face? Women like me? I'll show him what women like me are capable of.

I pull my hand back and punch him in the jaw before he has time to react. I push his chest and he stumbles back, legs just wide enough for me to kick through. He groans, clutching his balls. I grab his shoulders and shove my knee right into his nose, which has now started to bleed beautifully.

I get a handful of his shirt and shove him up against the wall, getting comfortable right in his face.

"How does it feel to get your butt kicked by women like me in under a minute, huh?" I sneer, letting spit fly into his face. I shake him. "Huh?" He doesn't answer.

"And if I ever hear you talking about raping someone I will kill you. And don't think I'm not capable of finding you because you must really must underestimate my hunting skills." I shake him again. "God doesn't like you, boy."

He nods in understanding and I loosen my grip. He takes this as a sign to leave but obviously he's mistaken with thinking I'd let his little demon butt back on the streets.

"Where do you think you're going?" I ask, but it's more of a statement. He shakes his head again, not answering. He takes a step back trying to get closer to the old woman who's just watching me in wonder.

"Did you really think I'd let you go? Get away so you could do this again?" I take one step closer and he takes a step back, eyes not trained on me but lower. I can hear a police siren off in the distance and hopefully someone heard us and is coming here. He starts to cry, tears slipping down his face silently and one by one.

"Yeah, you better cry." I hiss. My attention goes to the elderly lady, and I search for any sign of damage this sicko could've done to her. She looks clean. Her eyes are too trained on me but very low. I look down, puzzled by what about me could be gaining their attention.

Holy shit. My hand—my hand is on fire and it's not being put out by the light rain and I have no idea where this came from. Holy crap holy crap holy crap holy crap holy crap. And here comes my 87,000 mental breakdown in the past month.

_Could this be a new addition to your freak body? First moving small objects with your mind, now shooting fire out of your hands?_

Now, based on my previous attitude you'd think I'd play this off coolly and totally smoke the guy with my fire hands.

Yeah, no. I collect my bags with the hand not on fire and run off the scene like a little wuss.

* * *

It was a long day at school and Tori Vega is exhausted. She has two projects and an essay due on Friday and she needs to get started on them now or else they'll be turned in half done. On top of that, she has to write a song for Cat's grandmother's birthday and Sikowitz was giving her a hard time today. With a sigh, she sits down on the couch and rubs her temples. Life at a performing arts school is stressful.

Tori needs juice.

Just then, her father comes down the stairs in his police uniform. This is strange because he is usually off duty by two. He stops by the kitchen to grab his cop car keys.

"Hey, Dad, can you pour me some juice?" Tori asks, laziness getting the best of her. The kitchen is so far away and she's so tired. She doesn't want to do anything. She could copy off Andre in the morning for her other classes; she doesn't have to be perfect all the time.

"Sorry, Tor, I'm in a rush," Her dad says even though he's only walking to the front door, "They need more officers down at the station. Can't tell you why though, they didn't even tell me. Confidential, I guess." He winks at her and then opens the door, leaving Tori in a quiet house. Trina went over to a friend's house and Tori barely knew where her mom went to anymore.

Tori turned on the TV. The Latina didn't have a specific channel in mind and did nothing as the newscaster spoke from the TV.

"—Most recently, an elderly woman was almost robbed of her purse at a supermarket in L.A but the robber was stopped by a bystander with peculiar abilities. We were able to get the elderly woman, whose name she doesn't want to be revealed, to tell us the story."

The TV flashes back to a point obviously earlier in the day, because in the background of the woman with graying hair is a falling rain and it wasn't raining now. The woman on screen, which Tori thinks looks like a Grace so in her head names her Grace, looks around confusedly and then back to the camera.

"…We're rolling." Says a camera awkwardly. The camera shakes. "You can start."

"Well, let's see deary," Grace licks her lips, "I was all done getting my groceries and was starting my walk home—my grandson is learning how to drive in my car, you see." Grace stops to think about what happens next, an adorable crease etched into her forehead, "And this boy pops out of me! I didn't even know where he came from. Anyway, he told me to give him my belongings so I yelled for help. Then he told me to be quiet or else he'd hurt me so I did and gave him my stuff, even though in my purse were the ashes of my husband, Robert. I thought I'd lost him forever when out of nowhere someone comes out and tells the boy to give me back my purse. They started fighting and this mystery gal kicks the petunias out of the robber. And then she runs off without me getting to give her proper thanks. Luckily someone saw the whole thing take place and call the cops, too!" Grace smiles smugly at the camera. The crew asks if she'll be pressing charges and she laughs.

"I don't need to press charges, the boy's parents are pro'lly gonna be hard enough on 'm. They should though. He's a rude little son of a gun."

"The woman also claimed that the mysterious bystander could shoot fire from their hand." The newscaster chuckled, shaking his head, "Bless her robber, strangely, was also able to talk to us before being put in the police car."

Tori's TV switches from the newscaster to a boy who looks like he's in his teens and could've been fairly cute if it wasn't for the gore that is his face. A bruise is forming on his cheek and chin and his nose is still bleeding. He has messy brown hair and a button nose and fair lips. His brown eyes are wild and searching for an innocent face to trick. His eyebrows turn up as if he's surprised he's being arrested. There's dry blood crusted on his lip which he feverishly licks at. His name is revealed to be Russell Steel.

"I didn't know ashes were in there," Russell reasons, "I was only hoping for a hundred bucks or something, ya know? Money to use for my ma and pa's anniversary." Tori wouldn't be surprised if he is lying and would actually use the money for his drug addiction. The news crew asks about the savior of the day, aka the girl who kicked his butt.

Tori sat forward, slightly curious.

"Hotter than heck, she is." The robber spits to the camera, personality changing from a trickster young man to something much darker. His eyes look dead and heavy now. "If she is the hero, I don't want to see the villain."

* * *

**And this is where the story starts to roll. I didn't read through this so sorry for any errors!**

**Review please, I love you all! **


	5. Chapter 5

Hellfire? Hellfire, really? They couldn't have come up with a better name than that?

After watching the news yesterday and finding out the old woman had told the cops everything I'd been reading articles about myself. It came as a shock in the start that I had finally been recognised for something. I bite my lip as I continue to read on the Internet. Several websites have popped up requesting the identity of the special citizen with fire-hands who had saved the elderly woman. I've always loved attention, but I'm not sure how to handle this kind.

I did _one_ thing and I already have #TeamHellfire trending on The Slap. I don't understand, not really.

(And I know I've told you this 100 times already, but I don't understand what's going on with myself either. And I know I'm annoying you because I keep repeating myself but it's important to the story so suck it up and keep reading.)

…So I do what any teenager would do to figure themselves out: I go to Google and search my strange symptoms. Within seconds, I have various results.

According to Yohoo, I have brain cancer.

According to Questions And Answers, I have a skin disease that's hard to spell so I'll spare myself the pain.

And according to WakaWaka, I'm a super hero, which is a more realistic answer (believe it or not) than the other two. Hm.

I look at the mirror across my room and examine myself. I don't look like a super hero; I'm a little pudgy on the sides. My chest is too big for those tiny little spandex suits. And for Pete's sake I sure don't act like one—I made Sinjin fall in a mud puddle just two weeks ago, and let's remember who walked right on past a grade niner being shoved up against the wall and having his lunch be taken away, shall we?

I turn back to my computer and frown. Maybe if I just lay low Hellfire will go away. God, I hope I don't burst into flames in the middle of a crowded mall. With just my luck I probably will. Danggit, I'm jinxing myself right now, aren't I? Jade stop thinking!

I groan, leaning back in my chair.

* * *

Two days pass and it's now Friday. Hellfire has not died down, in fact, she's gotten bigger and I don't think there's anything I can do to stop it. The news is offering a cash reward to people who claim to know anything of me. They're curious as to why such a hero would flee immediately instead of soaking up the fifteen minutes of fame the media was sure to give them. Geez, people are desperate.

I'm shopping for a gift for Andre right now, just in case anyone wants to know. His birthday is coming up soon and as much as I love scaring the guy I want to get him something nice. We _are_ friends after all. And yes, I am in the middle of a crowded mall.

I did, however, come prepared. I'm wearing some gloves and the type of heavy jacket that makes the cashiers eye you suspiciously. I don't blame them though. It's about early October and there's no need for the heavy coats yet. But my situation is a little bit different from others. Oh well.

My fingers float over rows of vintage albums. Andre has devoted himself to a new obsession and he doesn't stop rambling on about it ever. It's annoying, yes, but it's better than him talking about how hot the next girl is. So I hope whatever I get him makes his passion stay forever. In the end I choose between two albums and, as much as I love Andre, I'm only willing to spend money on one. I do eeny-meanie-miny mo and end up picking a blue album with a sad looking girl playing a saxophone on it. I pay up front using my dad's credit card. He won't notice.

A cashier with multiple tattoos gives my coat another suspicious glance before bagging the album and giving me a half-hearted goodbye. I can't help but wonder if he'd heard the news lately, about this recent Hellfire. I wonder if he'd treat me with kindness and wouldn't think I was trying to rob his store just because I'd saved an old woman whose name I hadn't bothered with. I told you I don't look like a super hero.

I leave the store and sit on a bench in the middle of the walkway, my feet tired from at least an hour of wandering around. I take in the sounds the world makes when it thinks no one is listening; the sound of a baby screaming, the laughter of a teenage girl, someone telling their significant other they love them, and someone loudly saying the lyrics to a very dirty song. I watch the world around me—from a girlfriend kissing her girlfriend to a man kicking some people out of his store. I see a toddler tugging on his father's sleeve, his father leaning down to pick him up. I smile. The world is hideously beautiful.

Without really meaning to I stroll into a Halloween store. I suppose it is the fake screams that always pull me in subconsciously. The cheesy decorations make me gag a little. I could do a much better job.

I've covered most of the store when I finally reach the masks. None of them interest me much until I reach the last one—a mask with half of it twisted into a cruel, painful smile while the other side is pulled far too back to be considered a nice smile. It intrigues me somehow. Life passes silently as the mask stares up at me.

"—May I help you, Miss?" A nasally voice interrupts. I turn to see a short blonde smiling at me. She has a gap in-between her teeth, where a chunk of food currently resides. Her name is Shelly.

"Uh, no, no," I stutter for some strange reason, "I'm just looking. Actually, can you tell me how much this mask costs?" The question leaves my lips before I'm prepared for it to go. I miss it already.

Shelly nods eagerly and tentatively takes the mask from my hands, "Follow me to the register, our apologies for not having a tag on it. May I tell you the story behind it, too?" There's a story?

"…?"

"You probably don't care, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Okay, so there was this demon that was taken away from home at a very young age, right? Their mother tried to smuggle them up to the human world, the world of life, justice, and beauty. Well, the gods watching over earth didn't like that, but the demon baby couldn't just go back to the demon underworld because of their special rules or whatever. Are you still following?" I nod and she scans the mask, holding back the price so she can finish the story.

"So, they take out the punishment on the demon's mother by killing her. Then, they mutaliatated the demon's face by making it seem forever happy and sad, which made it look unlovable. The baby grew up into a teenage demon and was furious and confronted the gods. The gods challenged the demon by saying that if it could make a human fall in love with it within one month, then they'd make him beautiful and bring his mother back from the dead. Long story short, the demon died, but it's still a nice story, eh? Oh, by the way do you want to buy this?"

I want her to continue the story and tell me every little detail but she seems completely unfazed by the looks I'm giving her. I shake my head, shrug, and then say sure and hand over the credit card. Shelly rings it up, bags it, and hands it over to me with a smile.

"Have a super duper bubbly day!" Shelly tells me as I start my departure. I wince.

* * *

When I arrive home it's nearly dark and there's a note on the counter telling me that Dad's working late and that he can not feed me tonight, which I've never relied on him to do. I open the fridge and weigh my options. I settle on a gourmet meal of fish sticks.

I'm about to head up to bed when there's a knock on the door. I know what you're thinking—what the perfect movie cliché? Girl home alone without anyone to help her fend off the murderer. All I need to do now is slowly approach the door with a knife in my hand and some slow paced horror music in the background.

But I'm not any cliché, so I just walk up to the front door without checking whom it is and open it. I'm greeted by…air? My face turns into a snarl. Ugh, I hate ding-dong ditchers. I hope they're getting a good laugh from whatever bushes they're hiding in. I flip off the invisible low-lifes. I'm about to head back inside when I hear a whimper. I look around again and for the first time I finally look down.

There, next to my homework, which Robbie must have dropped off a few moments ago, is a small dog. It's shivering in this 80-degree weather. It looks up to me with big brown eyes that remind me of Vega's and then proceeds to sneeze on my leg. Gross.

"What do you want?" I ask, not expecting a reply. We have a staring contest. Surprisingly, it wins. But as soon as I blink it whimpers again. It stands on its hind legs as it tries to lick at my fingers. I pull away sharply, not liking the cold feeling.

"I'm not food!" I cry. It explodes with a small army of whimpers and I feel bad. I kneel down, trying a new tactic.

"Are…are you hungry?" I ask hesitantly. I read somewhere that if you give a cat food, it'll never leave you. I hope it isn't the same with this puppy.

I swear this dog can understand English though because it seems that it pipes up when I say hungry. It gives me a small yelp, which I guess is its sorry excuse for a bark. It follows me inside. I don't know what to give it because I've never had a dog before, and the one near the pond I burned. I don't have a good experience with animals.

I give it some cold bacon and it seems okay with that, because it's been munching happily for the past two minutes while I watch it. Can dogs give floors rabies? Can floors give me rabies?

When it's done eating I'm all for kicking it out but it insists on me being its new best friend. The dog follows me around, nipping at my heels and slowly getting under my skin by its happy yelping. I try various ways of getting it out of the house, including throwing food items out the door for it to go get, but it hasn't fallen for any of my tricks. Tough puppy.

By eleven PM I'm exhausted and I don't care if the pup stays for one night. I'm ready to go to bed when my phone buzzes. It's a text from Tori. Between the dog, her, and my "powers", I just can't get a break, can I?

_this whole hellfire search is kinda crazy don't you think? do you think it's a hoax? :P_ –Tori

_it's stupid, but I don't think it's a hoax. there are some pretty freaky/cool people in LA_- I respond, suddenly defensive of Hellfire. But I still need to play it safe, I need to sound innocent but opinionated.

_ok. sorry if im bugging you it's just that they're everywhere! the media loves them and so does the public and it's like lol why? goodnight ;)-_ Tori

I have no idea why she put a winky face and I'm in no condition to tease her. I write back a quick goodbye. I'm starting to drift to sleep when my door opens and the dog trots in. It hops up onto my bed and drops the mask in my hands. Through clouded eyes, I look at it back to the mask and back at it.

It looks at me with hopeful eyes and nudges my side, and we both know what it's asking.

And…I guess, I guess I could give the media what they wanted. It isn't exactly the route for fame I want to take, but…

I'm out before I can finish.

* * *

**Tori's getting a little flirty over there. **

**Sorry for the late update! I'm back on my computer, which I use more often but unfortunately doesn't have Word on it. Also, I've been testing nonstop so you'll have to forgive me. And on that note, I've been studying nonstop and I'm super tired and did not read this chapter for any errors, please excuse that, too.**

**Thank you for reading and if you could drop a review in that little box, that would mean the world to me!**


End file.
